The body of one of the two suspects in the stabbing attacks that left ten dead and eighteen injured in Canada on Sunday was found in one of the localities where the murders took place, announced on Monday 5 September, the police.
While the authorities suspected a leak in Regina, capital of the province of Saskatchewan which is more than 300 km from the scene of the tragedy, the body of Damien Sanderson, 31, who was carrying several “visible wounds”, was discovered in the Aboriginal community at James Smith Cree Nation. He was “in a grassy area, near a house under examination”explained the deputy commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Rhonda Blackmore.
The other suspect, her brother Myles Sanderson, 35, is still considered at large and may have been injured, she added at a press conference. He might have “need for care”. “We can’t say for sure how Damian died, but he may have been killed by his brother”she added.
Hundreds of police mobilized
Police say Myles Sanderson represents a « menace ». “We always recommend people to be vigilant, it is considered dangerous. His actions have shown that he is violent”, further explained the police. Myles Sanderson is, according to the Saskatoon Police Department, wanted by law enforcement since last May for failing to comply with his judicial control. He had been sentenced to nearly five years in prison, notably for theft.
Hundreds of police have been mobilized since Sunday to find these men suspected of a series of attacks whose motive remains unexplained. The police counted thirteen crime scenes in remote localities in the center-west of the country, including an indigenous community.
No information was immediately released on the victims by the authorities. But the majority of them are indigenous. In Canada, they represent about 5% of the country’s population – estimated at more than 38 million inhabitants – and live in communities often ravaged by unemployment and poverty. According to the police, some victims were targeted by the suspects and others were attacked randomly.
The community of James Smith Cree Nation, which has a population of 2,500, has declared a local state of emergency. Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations leader Bobby Cameron lamented “the unspeakable violence that cost the lives of innocent people”. In a statement, he blamed the attacks on the “illegal drugs invading our communities”.
Attacks “become too common”, deplores Trudeau
In recent years, Canada has experienced a succession of events of rare violence. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lamented on Monday that these types of deadly attacks are “became too common” in the country.
In April 2020, a shooter impersonated a police officer, killing twenty-two people in Nova Scotia. In January 2017, six people were killed and five were injured in attacks targeting a mosque in Quebec.
“This type of violence has no place in our country”he said, calling on residents of the province to be careful and to cooperate with the police.
Several international officials expressed their support for Canada after this tragedy. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke of attacks “horrible and devastating”and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid tweeted that his country stood “alongside Canadians in the face of such senseless violence”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said she was ” horrified “has, she, promised to “pay tribute to the victims” when he visits Saskatoon in two weeks.